Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: macro

/ Su Leslie
YOu can never have too many flowers. Double-exposure shot flowers in colour and black & white. Image: Su Leslie, 2017. Edited with Snapseed.

Flowers as symbols of hope, and of loss. Double exposure image: Su Leslie, 2017. Edited with Snapseed.

In my largely ever-green part of the world, autumn is not denoted by an increase in colour, but a gradual sense of its loss.

Sandwiched between tropical cyclones Debbie and Cook, New Zealand is experiencing a few days of sunshine. For the people of Edgecumbe in the Bay of Plenty these days are being spent salvaging what they can from their homes after the Rangitaiki River burst its banks last week and flooded the town, and preparing for the terrible possibility that the temporary repairs won’t hold in the coming storm.

Written for Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge at Lens and Pens by Sally.

44 thoughts on “Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: macro”

  3. Pingback: Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge: Macro (and Hellebores) | Lens and Pens by Sally

    • Thank you Janet. The rain has arrived this morning and we are all a little nervous of the next few days. We in Auckland will probably be fine, but a state of emergency has been declared further south.

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  5. Lovely image. The rain is slow to start here, but it is coming. Last week it was very heavy. There was a lot of flooding on the plains through to Otane. There is poor drainage there, so another deluge means a lot more flooding. The swans and ducks are starting to arrive for the winter along the highway. Keep dry. I have no plans to go anywhere for the next couple of days. Just watch Netflix to drown out the rain.

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    • Thanks Raewyn. It’s started raining quite steadily here and is very windy. I’m planning to spend the next few days with a pile of good books and some quick dashes out the back to check on the butterflies. Have you moved into your new place yet. Hope it will be a great home for you.

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        • Sadly not. I sat in a very boring carpark traffic jam then stood in a long queue to get the stuff. And then … the storm moved east and we hardly even got any rain. 🙂 Not so funny for people in other places where the storm did land. But not so much damage as expected, thank goodness. xxxxxx

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          • Or “The Call of the Wild Yeast” — an anthropomorphized tale of stolen sourdough starter that turns feral in Alaska, becoming friendly with a baker who is killed by native bakers and then killing them in turn …. Actually, maybe not.
            Apologies: this probably doesn’t make sense unless you’ve read Jack London’s ‘Call of the Wild.” 🙂

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          • Haha! But of course I read “Call of the Wild”! It was one of the first books I´ve read as a child (the first were the adventure series by Enid Blyton). And I like how you use the story to turn our infamous tale of the sourdough bread into so much more 😉 “The Call of the Wild Yeast” is a superb title – I would by this book immediately! 🙂 xxxxxxx

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          • I should have known! You have read far more than most people I know.
            I wonder what books young people are introduced to in schools these days, because they tend to look at me blankly when I make references to anything beyond Harry Potter (not that I don’t like Harry Potter), but there is this huge wealth of literature that people aren’t exploring. I’ll probably never go to the wilds of Yukon, but books like Call of the Wild take me there. But of course, you understand that!
            My local library has a poster in the window that says “books let you travel when you have to stay here” or something like that. 🙂 xxxxxx

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          • Imagine me a hoover when it comes to books 😉 Or a bookworm 😉
            And I wonder about that too, and not just books but music and films too. I mentioned Alfred Hitchcock and the Beatles the other day in my pottery class (10-11 years old), and they stared at me if I was bubbling nonsense. Never ever have heard of them and how can films be in B/W?? Can you believe it? I feel like Methusalem when this happens! And to think that those kids´ parents are my age!
            That poster in your local library is spot on! 🙂 Oh, and that´s another thing, those kids have never been to a library either! Sometimes I wonder of they´re from a different planet… or maybe me!
            Anyway, that´s exactly what´s so fascinating about books, they let you travel through space and time, sometimes even dimensions 😉 It´s so sad that Jack London and his likes are mostly being ignored by the new generations… 😦
            xxxxxxx

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          • I just love the image of you hoovering up books — and I totally get it! I can’t (literally) not read. If there are no books or magazines around, I’ll read signs on the wall, packaging, even the fine print on the water rates account.
            It is really sad when kids aren’t exposed to books. I’ve never met a child who doesn’t respond in some way to being read to — even those for whom it’s a complete novelty. Before the boy-child was born, I read that if kids see their fathers reading, that’s really good for them (especially boys) because otherwise they can dismiss reading as just something feminine and unimportant. I kind of insisted that T read to our kid (not that he took much persuading) and was lucky that my father in law was also happy to share books with the boy-child.
            Imagine how cool it would be if high-powered businessmen gave up some time every week to go into primary schools to read to classes. Actually, if business people of both sexes did so, it would be even better. And if they sponsored school libraries to stop them closing, or ran field trips to the public library. Or maybe if the All Blacks did it!!! Rugby players known to love books … it would start a literary revolution in this country.
            Sorry about the rant … you know what I’m like :-).
            I hope your week is going well.

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          • It´s the same for me – I have to read anything in my reach and don´t even stop at my new shampoo´s backside information 😉 That´s also how I gather a little knowledge in foreign languages as well, because most things you buy around here have their informations also written in many other European languages as well.
            It was a hard time last year when I injured one of my eyes and couldn’t really read for weeks 😦
            I wasn´t aware of this particular information that it is important for boys when they grow up to see the men in their families read books but it absolutely makes perfect sense to me!!! It explains so much! All the men I know who don´t read books have definitely fathers who don´t either, and vice versa. I think with girls it´s actually the same, maybe not as pronounced as with the boys. I´m just glad I took after my mum since my dad didn’t really read anything else apart from newspapers or sport magazines 😉
            Your idea of successful businessmen and women giving up some time to read to children is just awesome! I would definitely support it! And who knows, some might even like it themselves, especially those who have kids of their own.
            And athletes that read would be even better! Like football/soccer player around here and the rugby player in NZ 🙂
            No need to ever apologize for a little rant – I do them myself 😉 xxxxxxx

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          • I’m glad you like the idea. I’ve been thinking about it too and wondering if there is any way I could make it happen. Unfortunately , I don’t know any sports stars, but New Zealand is such a small place, I am sure to know someone who does.
            Another idea to add to my ever-growing, and slightly terrifying, list. 🙂 xxxxx

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          • I´ll keep my fingers crossed that you will find someone who knows someone who… 🙂
            I´m familiar with those ever-growing lists! 😉 You´re absolutely right in calling them terrifying! 🙂
            Wish you a splendid weekend! 🙂 xxxxxxxxxx

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    • Thank you. The boy-child lives quite close by, and I’ve been texting him all day to remind him about things like stocking up a little on food and water, making sure he has a working flashlight and spare batteries, securing stuff around his house from the wind — all that mummy stuff. He’s going “yes, yes … a storm, how exciting.” Sigh. 🙂

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          • One big comfort is that my church is VERY careful with missionaries. They have all of these procedures they follow. So when the tornado warning happened the missionaries were all located immediately and put on “lock down” so the mission president knew exactly where they all were. Anyone in a particularly dangerous location was moved to a safer place. The mission president then sent a mass email to all parents to let us know that all of the missionaries were on lock down and had been accounted for. Then as soon as the storm had passed he sent another email letting us know that all missionaries were safe and the danger had passed. They are particular to exceed the local agency recommendations for safety. So, I just ignored it. I knew he would be as safe as was possible.

            I’m hoping you and yours will be just as safe during your storm!

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